Sugar Ray: Sugar Ray

For all its sins against credibility and good taste—the bald-faced trend-surfing, the dumb summer-cookout party anthems, the naked lady on the cover of its mostly forgotten major-label debut—there's no point in disliking the pretty-boy hit-makers in Sugar Ray. Preemptively neutralizing criticism with self-deprecation (naming its first post-stardom album 14:59) and a likable-lug demeanor, the group has long been able to coast on its lack of pretense alone. Sugar Ray's self-titled fourth album again deflects most criticism with an amiable assortment of summer-radio fare, its only cardinal sins being its calculated and characteristic adherence to trends and "Stay On," an ill-conceived collaboration with 311's Nick Hexum. As a whole, the obvious flaws don't really matter: "Under The Sun" and "When It's Over" are catchy "Every Morning" retreads scripted specifically for beaches and car radios ("Under The Sun" even recalls the sweetly idiotic nostalgia-mining of LFO's "Summer Girls"), while "Waiting" showcases Sugar Ray's skills at slicker, more straightforward pop. "Disasterpiece" and "Answer The Phone" are waiting in the wings in case ham-fisted guitar-rock dominates the airwaves this summer, with the latter poised to break especially big. If crafting surefire-blockbuster summer fluff is an art in and of itself, the members of Sugar Ray are unstoppable masters. It's hard to resent their skill, especially when the music could be so much worse.